


My Dear

by AdrenalineRevolver



Series: CosettEnjolras AU [3]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Addressing the felix shaped elephant in the room, CosettEnjolras AU, Courfeyrac Is A Little Shit, Gen, Poor Combeferre, cosettenjolras as in cosette is enjolras
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 10:26:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16554035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdrenalineRevolver/pseuds/AdrenalineRevolver
Summary: How Courfeyrac comes to know of Enjolras' true identity.





	My Dear

Telling Courfeyrac was an inevitability when she thinks back on it. The man was much more perceptive than he let on and he was quickly making himself both one of her closest friends and educators on how to properly behave as a man. 

“My good man. You will scarcely believe.” He whispered as he hurried into the library to meet her, quickly it had become routine for her to go to the library whether she had a meeting that day or not. 

“You’ll be scolded for running again.” She warned him as he sat himself at the edge of her table. 

“It is all worth it.” He quickly produced a bit of lace. To her horror she recognized it. 

“What is…?” She was careful to keep her voice even but it still jumped in pitch.

“My thoughts exactly when I found it on the so very serious Combeferre’s desk. Why would he have a lady’s garter? More importantly why would he not realize he had it?”

“It was caught in his clothes?” Cosette offered carefully.

“Exactly. After a bit of detective work I have the answers as to what happened.” He grinned without knowing what he was doing. 

Her heart stopped. “Oh?”

“Our friend spent and evening in a lovely lady’s closet hiding from her father. Hidden amongst her petticoats. The scandal.” Courfeyrac sounds ecstatic for someone who’s whispering. “He says it got caught up in his clothes and he found it after he left. That he’s unsure of how to return it. While I trust him not to lie I’m still so heartbroken. How dare he not tell me of such a thing? Combeferre hiding away all night in some Mademoiselle’s room.” His tone is mixed between false horror and that of a proud parent.

“Perhaps he didn’t want you to misunderstand his intentions.” She pretended to be completely disinterested in the garter.

“Why else would you be in a young woman’s home after midnight, hiding from her father no less?” Courfeyrac twirled the fabric around his finger as he speaks.

“She could have been a friend of his that he lost track of time while visiting. I’ve had that happen myself before. It could have also been a neighbor he was assisting with something. I don’t understand the preoccupation with women in such a way.” She kept her eyes firmly on her book. “If one was going to associate with women surely there would be more of interest then what they could offer you physically.”

Courfeyrac looked at her a moment before continuing on with his normal excitement. “Ah but this is as much love as it would be sex. Nothing speaks to true love like risking an angry father stab you to death simply to speak to someone. If this girl is his the object of his affection and he simply stayed by her side then it’s a romance for the ages. If it was more sordid than he’s both brave and tight-lipped. Either way, don’t you think her lucky?” His tone shifted to a slightly more suggestive one.

“W-what?” Cosette felt herself flush. Had she been found out already?

“Do you think she’s lucky? To have a handsome young man willing to spend time with her at great risk, even in the dead of the night? Combeferre is quite the catch.” Courfeyrac continued. 

Her cheeks went even redder. “If she desires the attention I suppose. Under the right conditions it could even be romantic. As you said Combeferre is handsome and-” She stopped herself, did men complement each other in such a way? She wasn’t sure. Courfeyrac seemed to be up to something so taking his lead might not be the best. Cosette knew she was likely overthinking things, she had heard men be complementary of each other. However, she was still nervous enough derail herself. “I’m not sure I understand the question.”

Courfeyrac sighs and puts the garter in his shirt pocket before taking a seat beside her. 

“I forget that you are not quite as skilled at subtly.” His voice is an actual whisper now. “Tell me, have you been reading of the Revolution?”

“Of course.” She nodded.

“Including the penal code put in place?”

“I have.”

“Has its focus on true crimes and not the concept religious morality not been more freeing? While it is liberating for all would it perhaps be even more so for you?” He waited for an answer with a small smile. 

She mentally goes over everything in the Code of 1791 that she can recall.

“There are too many things that are an improvement, my friend I’m unsure what you mean.”

Courfeyrac sighed and leans in close to the point of his lips nearly touching her ear. “Now, do not take offence for I mean none, but are you perhaps a Molly of sorts? One who favors men? Sodomite is likely far too crass but-“

She jumps and straightens out. That is one way to be misinterpreted. “Why do you think me so?” Both her curiosity and desire to not expose to the truth is kept her from outright correcting him. 

“You seem to have no interest in young women. However romance doesn’t seem to be lost on you. You are also quite lady-like in your mannerisms and occasionally your voice. You needn’t worry; you’ll have no judgment from me. If we are all to be free and equal then that refers to all does it not? I myself have had many lovers, it would be a lie to say they were always ladies.” He added the last bit with a wistful sort of wave.

“Do you mean that?” Cosette carefully put her hand on his arm.

“Completely.” He showed no sign of faltering.

After a moment she whispered. “Would that equality extend to women?” 

“Well yes they-my. My dear you have played me for a fool.” He smiles brightly and looks her over, pausing to consider her eyes. “Is the bright Enjolras also the brave Libertas who spoke for us? Here I had convinced myself I was half-mad for suspecting such a thing before.”

“Brave? I nearly broke down in tears the moment the crowd turned against me.”

“Bravery isn’t the absence of tears but the willingness to push them aside. Why were I born of your station I doubt I could have said a word.” He paused and his eyes went wide before he pulled out the garter again. “My dear, is this yours?”

She snatched it from him. “Combeferre helped me get home but my father nearly caught us. I may have thrown him into the wardrobe in a panic.”

Courfeyrac immediately had to stifle his laughter. “No wonder he was so unsure of how to bring it up. I suppose I owe you both an apology. Combeferre two for teasing him as a child for his fondness of a certain heroine from the Hundred Years War, I never expected having to take back ‘you’ll never find a maid in armor’. Imagine me being so thrilled to be wrong.”

“Why are you so kind? You accept me regardless. You defended me without knowing me.” She marveled at him for a moment.

“Well you started that, however the world is filled with unkindness. Why fill it with more? I love women, my favorite moments with lovers were when their guards were lowered enough to truly laugh and speak. It is when they are at their most charming.” His own smile was just as charming as the women he spoke of.

“Do you not worry about them? What if they get pregnant?” Cosette’s nerves threatened to creep up on her again. This boy was so kind yet, so similar to someone who wasn’t.

“There are many ways for both parties to enjoy themselves without such risk. If such a thing were to happen I suppose there is always the family way. Your mother and your mistress both go into the countryside for the year and miraculously your mother had a child during her stay. Your parents may hate you for a time however your mistress is free from stigma and your parents have a child to spoil.” Courfeyrac spoke about it like it was simple.

“Is that really so common?”

“A childhood friend did it and if it isn’t it should be. To let lovely ladies languish would be terrible for everyone.” 

“Indeed.” She looked away for a moment, debating if this was a conversation she should have. He already knew so much.

He seemed to catch on that something was bothering her. “You needn’t tell me if you don’t wish to.”

She glances around. “Lets go for a walk.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“He just left her?” Courfeyrac’s voice gets louder with his outrage.

“With no warning.” Cosette’s voice was quiet. It was still Enjolras’ but it was subdued.

“But you were…perhaps it is my own sense of duty confusing me but if you’ve been with a woman to the point of having a two year old child how can you justify leaving them behind? Even…Even if you truly didn’t love the woman and it was only an entertainment you can’t just abandon the child. Did you say he was wealthy and a student?” He seemed caught between fury and confusion.

“He was.” She nodded.

“Even more inexcusable, what true cost would it have been to send money to for support? He did not think of her as a mistress he thought of her as a prostitute he could simply walk away from.” He practically spat.

“She was forced to become one.” Cosette hadn’t revealed to anyone that she knows before. Not even father.

“Excuse me?” It’s as if all the anger is ripped from Courfeyrac and only concern is left.

“She couldn’t continue to care for me on her own so she put me in the care of a couple who abused her kindness. They claimed I was ill and always needed more money. She sold her hair, her teeth, and eventually herself.” She had always expected herself to be so infuriated when she finally spoke about this. It’s how she felt. Yet for some reason she could only sound like the same lost child she once was.

Courfeyrac was quiet for a moment, as he seemed to be thinking of the right thing to say. After realizing that there was truly no right thing to make it better he just softly asked. “I doubt she was lucky enough to work in one of the legal brothels?” 

As Cosette was quickly figuring out more about this boy’s speaking patterns she suspected he meant to both express the idea that he didn’t think any less of her or her mother and to give her a reason to continue speaking. She wondered if it was his politics or simply his manner that led him to finding ways of saying three things with a single sentence. “No the twice weekly examinations would have been a blessing, it very nearly cost her her life. She would have died had my father not found her. She very nearly died even so.”

“That is man who you go home to, yes?”

She smiled at the realization that he’s likely trying to ensure that she’s safe without directly asking. His manner then, to ask things so directly is likely more stress than he prefers. “Yes, he saved her life and then mine.”

Courfeyrac seemed lost in thought again. “I must thank you. Both for telling me this and for not hating me, I’m not sure I would have been as understanding as you if I were in your position.”

“I could never. You are flirtatious, yes, and I doubt you’ve ever met a woman you wouldn’t try to woo however even when you thought me a man I’ve never seen you be anything but good.” 

“Ah, you warm my heart.” He put his hand on his chest dramatically. 

Cosette took the hint that now is the time to return to a lighter mood. “To be clear though, my being a woman won’t keep me from our meetings will they?”

“And risk giving up your vicious defense? Enjolras, my dear, I would want you on our side if you were three kittens stacked on top of each other. All that I ask is that you allow Combeferre and I to escort you home at night.”

“I wouldn’t mind that.” She smiled and gave in to the urge to tease him “You make alright company at times.”

“Would you also not mind if I got to sleep in the wardrobe as well?” 

With that she smacked him in the chest and he could scarcely keep from causing a scene with his laughter. 

If she laughed as well it was only because his laughter was too contagious. She would swear to it.

**Author's Note:**

> Courf when he at some point gets caught calling Enjolras 'my dear': "HE IS MY DEAR SON. IVE TAUGHT THIS SHELTERED BOY EVERYTHING HE KNOWS."
> 
> *also the code of 1791 decriminalized sex (specifically anal) between two consenting dudes. gay guys were still plenty discriminated against but it did fast track Paris to becoming the gay capitol of europe. The 1791 code decided that they will only punish 'true crimes' like murder and theft and 'morality crimes' are bullshit. The nepolionic code kept it and gay sex i dont think was ever re-criminalized. which is amazing considering that in the US it's still technically illegal in a lot of states. As for Molly it's a victorian english term that's similar to gay but with effeminate connotations but it's in older english to french dictionaries.
> 
> *also also, courf will flirt with everything that moves. Male or female. nothing is safe.


End file.
